title: Appearance of parvalbumin-specific immunoreactivity in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the developing rat and gerbil brain.
abstract: Developmental changes in the distribution of parvalbumin-specific immunoreactivity in the brain, in particular in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, were followed immunohistochemically in two different species, the rat and the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) using an antibody raised against for rat parvalbumin. The gerbil is known to develop its auditory and visual capacity later than rat. In both the rat and gerbil, parvalbumin-specific immunoreactivity appeared after birth in both the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. The timing of the development of expression of parvalbumin varied among different parts of the cerebral cortex. The parietal cortex showed evidence of the earliest expression of parvalbumin whilst the occipital and temporal cortices expressed parvalbumin at a later stage of a development. This feature was common to both the rat and gerbil but occurred at a relatively later stage in the gerbil. The profile of the distribution of parvalbumin in the brain of the developing and adult gerbil was similar to that of the rat, but there were some differences. The frequency of bead-like structures on the dendrites of the parvalbumin-positive cells in the CA1 region of the hippocampus was markedly lower in the gerbil; instead, straight non-beaded fibers which ran vertically into the pyramidal layer were stained. Parvalbumin-positive fibers were also found in the cerebral cortex of the gerbil.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Developmental Research, Aichi Prefectural Colony, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seto-Ohshima
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Semba
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Emson
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Heizmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005849:Gerbillinae; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009132:Muscles / Q000737:chemistry; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D010320:Parvalbumins / Q000032:analysis*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
chemical_list: D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010320:Parvalbumins